The secret to Athens’ vibe?

The people. Period. The built environment, music, sense of community and progressiveness are the results.

While in Athens we were extremely fortunate to meet with some of Athens’ creative implementors, the ones a truly cool town can’t do without. They included:
– Mayor Heidi Davison, as progressive, open-minded and down-to-earth as a mayor can be;
– Art Jackson, Director Athens Downtown Development Authority, helped us understand what makes the downtown merchants so unique;
– Tony Eubanks, co-founder of Athens Weekly News and bar owner, friends with REM (who are from Athens);
– Jared Bailey, former owner of the famous 40 Watt club and manager of AthFest;
– Chuck Galis, a New Urbanist developer;
– Jeff Montgomery, runs www.athensmusic.net;
– Nelson Wells, music promoter at Team Clermont;
– Bailey White, director of marketing for The Cloud, free wireless internet and promotions for downtown;
– Sarah van Ophuijsen – Big City Bread Marketing Director and founder of Athens Small Business Target Group;
– Sandi Turner, PR extraordinaire for Athens Clarke County and art gallery co-owner that brought many of these people together;
– Lucy Rowland, our Athens agent, tour guide and den mother of a 500-member professional urban planning online community